Young Underpaid Professionals

There are two things you should understand about the anime series Myself; Yourself. One, it only has 13 episodes and that may be for the best since two, it was made by people who are obviously not all that concerned whether the story is making you squirm or not. I’m not talking about a blood and gore action horror anime series here, Myself; Yourself is a high school slice of life series – or at least that’s what led me to watch it in the first place.

I came across Myself; Yourself via Crunchyroll’s anime pimp newsletter, where its plot was so nicely wrapped up that I decided to try it out. By the way, this franchise started out as a visual novel from Yeti, with a light novel and the anime incarnation released before the videogame.

Tangent: I’m a sucker for high school slice of life anime; it’s Rio Crack. Due to the fact that I can’t help myself, I’ve been subjected to several levels of grief (God help me from myself) because let’s face it, finding a thoroughly satisfying and addicting series is like finding a gem in a gravel quarry. Another thing, you know how you sometimes find yourself watching something completely horrible and you only notice after you’ve seen half of it? By then you feel you’d have to finish it just to see if it redeems itself. Sometimes, redemption is possible and can effectively be achieved though mass annihilation or the complete catastrophic failure of the power of love.

Wait, where was I? Oh, right. After all that said, don’t write Myself; Yourself completely off yet. I didn’t.

The Plot

Myself; Yourself starts with a simple enough premise. Sana Hidaka goes back to his hometown Sakuranomori after five years of absence, sent to spend his high school days in a relatively familiar environment. He reconnects with his childhood friends who, like him, have grown up. There wouldn’t be a series if there wasn’t any sort of conflict, so the writers put problems in – in spades. Some things change, while some things stay the same, that’s what the series initially imparts.

The Characters, among other things

First there’s Sana and his wristwatch. Smart viewers really won’t spend too much time solving that mystery, especially when it’s compounded with Sana’s mother calling him every day. Obviously, his return to Sakuranomori was not precipitated by a sudden desire to go to high school with his old friends.

Then there’s the Wakatsuki twins, Shuri and Shuu, whose closeness can be easily explained by the their being twins and all. Though as I mentioned, the makers of Myself; Yourself did not concern themselves of your comfort and so the twins do and say some things to each other that convinces you that their relationship is more than just that of brother and sister.

Nanaka Yatsushiro’s damage, on the other hand, comes from a childhood trauma that involved leaping off a burning building (her house). I won’t spoil the rest for you – but if you must know, those are the major sources of conflict in the story.

The other characters, like the childish but busty Aoi Oribe, the kids Hinako and Youta, new friend Asami Hoshino, and the teacher Yuzuki provide interesting enough interactions and extra conflict.

The Good Stuff

The best thing about Myself; Yourself is that even though it’s a high school anime, it gives conflicts a certain twist that you can be sure that those types of conflicts have a bajillion to one chance of ever happening to you. That’s a good thing, well, because face-stabbing grandmothers are a small percentage of the entire human population (right? Riiight? Oh God, please.).

Another thing, this series provides enough entertainment value and I’m sure it’s not as bad as I make it sound. I mean, I’ve seen worse. And as if to push that point further, while watching this anime, I was visited by the Ghost of Past Horrible Anime in the form of Dragonauts (AIIIIIEEEE!).

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